Steady work.

• Author: Ess, Charlie
• Position: Government-funded construction in Alaska

It's not a boom, but it's far from a bust: Looking ahead to government-funded construction in the next couple years.

Although the actual strength of Alaska's capital construction market can be difficult to measure, the 1996 season appears to closely parallel 1995. Henry Springer, executive director with Associated General Contractors of Alaska offered that assessment along with the disclaimer mainly because the state's building seasons don't match its fiscal years, which run from July 1 to June 30.

Another factor adding ambiguity to the industry's health at the contractor's level is that, as projects advance from earth-moving phases toward equipment installation, revenues shift throughout a wide array of trades and manufacturers.

At the same time state and federal agencies are predicting that the needle on the construction barometer will hold fairly steady for the next two years. Gov. Tony Knowles has vowed to make long-range stability the bottom line. In signing the $100.1 million capital budget into law on July 1, he urged next year's Legislature to adopt a capital budget which addresses basic needs and gives communities, school districts, the University of Alaska and contractors predictability in planning for the future.

In recent years, the capital budget has jumped wildly, from $147 million to $616 million and back again. Knowles contends that boom and bust cycles mean much of the work goes to outside contractors and that municipalities can't properly plan for their needs. The budget he signed changed little from the six-year version introduced in March, which he hopes will result in a "safe landing" for all facets of industry as the budget moves toward a balance point early in the next millennium.

Industry leaders claim they can already feel the effects. "We are glad to see some stability in the construction market," says Springer, whose association is comprised of some 300 companies representing nearly all but the electrical trades. He noted that stability calms all corners of the building industry, and smoothes out bonding capabilities and levels of inventories carried by suppliers.

Road Construction

Combining the capital budget with the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation's contributions of $47.9 million and another $293.6 million from federal transportation funds brings the state's FY '97 public works budget to $598.6 million. The largest portion of the capital budget has been dedicated to transportation projects, in which $37 million in state funding was matched by the $293.6 million in federal transportation funds. However, a scoring process implemented late last year drastically changed the way future road and aviation construction projects will come to pass.

Under the new regime, city and borough residents nominate projects to the respective regional DOT office (there are three: Southeast, Central and Northern). A panel from each region then reviews and prioritizes each item from the wish list on its merits of safety and health factors, long-term maintenance costs and cost-per-mile-per-user.

From there, the projects undergo additional scoring by a statewide project evaluation board consisting of each regional director and a staff member. According to Tom Brigham, DOT's statewide director of planning, the board spends days wading through "billions of dollars worth" of requests before compiling...